Sunday, September 23, 2012

Remember when we moved to Turkey and sold (almost) everything we owned? Furniture, decor, clothing, books, movies, games... EVERYTHING that wasn't a handmade family heirloom?

Well, we're back, and starting fresh. We have nothing but a few quilts, and stuff that made it back with us from Turkey. Also, we have no money. AAAND... we have a fresh outlook on life: we don't want to be such consumers, such buyers, such owners.

We want to reduce the amount of useless crap that clutters our lives. We want to reuse and recycle someone else's previously loved stuff. We want to give new life to something that looks un-savable. And maybe, we want to turn a profit on it in the next six months.

'Cus, oh yeah, we're heading out of the country again sometime next year (fingers crossed). Absolutely no part of me wants to spend a bunch of money amassing all new stuff to give away and sell at a fraction of what we paid for it.

So here's the challenge: Over the next six months we will get everything we can for free, or next to free. We wont collect things we don't need unless they are free, or borrowed. At the end of our time in SLO, we will try to sell/donate all of our things for more than we paid for them. (I realize you don't get paid for donations. I'm just saying, that in total, the amount we spend on our apartment furnishings should be less than the amount we earn later.)

As a way to keep track of this goal, I will add to this post all of the treasures that we amass, and the amount we spent on them. Throughout the next six months I will craft-with/up-cycle many of them. And in six months we'll see if we can earn our money back.As a gift to the reader, I'll put most recent purchases and finds first. Your welcome. Unfortunately you'll still have to scroll to the bottom to see the running total, because I just can't put the total in the middle.

October 1st-7thSuper comfy chair and ottoman that definitely need to be recovered. Moving sale. (If you are thinking about becoming the garage sale-ing type, your best bet for great buys are moving sales. These people aren't just getting rid of the crap they don't want anymore, they're getting rid of everything which means you can get some good things. Also, they're getting rid of everything because they can't continue to store it, so they'll sell it for CHEAP.)$5

2 Chairs. Listed for $2 each, but one had some wood glue issues, they were both looking pretty grimey, and they were missing seats. I hesitated for a moment, and the girl cut the price in half. Woohoo! Garage Sale.$2

A bunch of things for a buck. I wouldn't normally have spent a dollar on any of these things, but when I go to a garage sale, and only buy one small thing, I don't feel like I have too much haggling power. So a scarf, a bathmat, and gym sized toiletry bottles...$3

Alan has been on the hunt for a tea kettle. Good thing I found the most beautiful one EVER. Garage sale.$1

Large pot. We officially need no more pots. Rummage sale.FREE!

This week's total:$31

Also... I've been borrowing a friend's BEAUTIFUL orange bike for the past 3 weeks. I love everything about it, except that now my friend and I can't go on bike rides together, cus she doesn't have a bike anymore. So when I saw this bike + replacement tires at a school rummage sale marked $35, I hesitated. It had already been marked down from $45, and when the guy walked by, he dropped it to $20! I was sold. Unfortunately, we only had $7 left in our wallet, so we decided to head to the bank. On our way out we ran into the school owner, who slashed the price again (conveniently to $7) and threw in the big pot above, for free! It's great to know people.$7

September 24th-30th:2 small end tables that we're using as night stands: free from a friend! She says we can sell them later, because she doesn't want them ever again, but we'll check back before we sell the gorgeous brown one. $0

Both will need some love and refinishing, but they are so sweet!

Tupperware! Or fakerware as the friends who gifted it to us called it, but something to store all of our food in! My husband is beyond happy. $0

Blender: Gift-back! When we moved two years ago, our friends took it as a back-up. This week they brought it back to us! $0

Matching lamps: first order of business is cat hair removal, second is a coat of spray paint, and third is lampshade recovering. These are gonna be darling. Garage sale.$5

Wicker Basket: for holding all of our crafts-in-progress. My foot made it into the picture for scale. Garage sale.$0.50

Canvas (Army?) Bag: We have a plan to get rid of all of the ENORMOUS and HEAVY suitcases we own, and replace them with bags like these. We'll need to add some straps. NBD. Garage sale. $0.50

3 Bath Towels. Garage sale. $1.50

1 flat sheet, 1 fitted sheet, and 2 pillow cases. Garage sale. Kinda pricey, but still in original packaging, and will make GREAT fabric. $5

2 Bowls and a Can Opener: We NEEDED a can opener (Alan opened one with a pocket knife this week), and he fell in love with the so-ugly-and-oldschool-that-they're-beautiful-look of the bowls. Garage sale.$2

Travel Sized Hair Dryer. Straight hair for the first time in 3 weeks! Garage sale.$0.50

And the find that makes my heart sing...This lovely dresser! Check out the engraving! And the cute little drawers! Now imagine it with the child engraved stars sanded off, and painted a bold color. We're thinking navy for the outside, and tangerine for the inside of the drawers. I CAN'T WAIT!! And the best part was the price! I told myself to be calm, and not let the lady know how badly she was under-selling this. That came out like me jumping up and down and shrieking "SOOOOOLD!" Then some guy tried to buy it and I tried to be polite: "Sorry... No I'm not BECAUSE IT'S MIIIIINE!" Polite wasn't in the cards I guess. Garage sale.$5!

Note: We were willing to pay $50 to a friend of ours for all of this stuff because while we could get this for free on Craigslist, we were squeamish about sleeping on a bed that might be totally gross.

$50

Lamp: on lone from a friend, so free, but not something we can sell later.

$0

Ottoman: Shed Shopping! Borrowed from Alan's sister and brother in law. Free, but not for sale.

$0

Coffee table: More shed shopping!

$0

Book Shelf: Shed Shopping

$0

Chest: Alan's heirloom, borrowed from the parents. Maybe used for a seat, or an end table.

$0

4 pallets, to be used to build a table and a couch. That's right guys, The Craft Couch just got more meaningful. Craig's Listed.